How to reduce the mortality rate in road traffic accidents in Central Asian countries and improve the ethical standards of drivers and pedestrians?
Thousands of people die and tens of thousands of people are injured because of traffic violations on the roads of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan annually.
The deaths in road traffic accidents have become so common that the population of the region perceives it as something ordinary. In addition, road traffic accidents increase the number of people with various disabilities who cannot work, which increases the burden on the social budget.
The experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan discussed these and other road safety issues in Central Asia during a regional analytical discussion organised by CABAR.asia on October 6.
Dias Maratuly, road safety specialist at Urban Forum Kazakhstan, Chinara Kasmambetova, head of the “Road Safety” NGO from Kyrgyzstan, Navruz Odinaev, head of “Khimoya” legal company from Tajikistan, and Lola Islamova, civic activist, founder and chief editor of Anhor.uz media from Uzbekistan participated in the discussion.
The experts unanimously referred to the situation with road accidents in their countries as horrifying.
Causes of Road Accidents in Central Asia
According to the experts, the main causes of the increased number of fatal road accidents are the increase in the number of vehicles, corruption, the injustice of the judicial system, lack of proper education and training in road traffic regulation of the younger generation, irrational infrastructure, and others.
Chinara Kasmambetova believes that the problem of road accidents in Kyrgyzstan has not received sufficient attention either from government authorities or from society for many years. However, the problem itself “was not as dreadful as it is now”.
According to official statistics, 10 thousand people have died in road accidents over 10 years in Kyrgyzstan, an average of 2 people per day.
Statistics show that drivers cause about 80% of road accidents in the country.
“At the same time, the pedestrians are also to blame: they deliberately violate the regulations,” said Chinara Kasmambetova.
An overall deterioration in driving etiquette, a sharp increase in the number of cars in Kyrgyzstan, and unjust sentencing after road accidents have contributed to the increase in the fatal road accidents rate.
“That is, someone is punished for violating traffic regulation – either a pedestrian or a driver, but others can run away, and often avoid it [responsibility],” she said.
An expert from Kazakhstan Dias Maratuly described the situation with road traffic accidents and road traffic deaths in his country as disastrous. About 2.5 thousand people die in road accidents in Kazakhstan every year. Last year, due to the pandemic and lockdown, this number was less – about two thousand, but, in general, the situation is discouraging.
According to Dias Maratuly, Central Asian countries still do not attach importance to the creation of comfortable and safe infrastructure for road users.
Dias Maratuly highlighted the fact that the residents of Central Asian countries change their driving style for the better when they visit the countries with good infrastructure.
“If you are driving on a six-lane highway, you drive at a very high speed. However, if it is a narrow road with speed humps, it is impossible to drive fast,” he said.
Navruz Odinaev said that Tajikistan, according to the WHO, has the highest road traffic mortality rate among the Central Asian countries. 19 people per 100 thousand population die in road accidents.
According to Navruz Odinaev, the main causes are the drivers who exceed the speed limit and insignificant fines for pedestrians who violate traffic regulations.
The fine for violating traffic regulations by pedestrians is 7 somoni (approximately $0,60) in Tajikistan.
“This is so insignificant that no pedestrian is held liable for violations. Theoretically, the state must spend $10 to bring one pedestrian to justice, just to receive 60 cents. $10 are spent on the work of an inspector, the court, and bailiffs who must collect the fine if a person does not voluntarily pay it,” he said.
Lola Islamova told the discussion participants that the situation with road safety in Uzbekistan remains very complex.
“I would compare the road traffic to the military action because we send our children to school with great anxiety. Driving is also very difficult,” she said.
According to her, corruption, impunity of road users, inconvenient infrastructure, and lack of cooperation between the traffic police and local authorities are the main reasons for this situation.
“The increase in the number of cars, considering past statistics, was quite explosive. We have our own car plant, and in a short period, the number of cars increased, but the number of roads did not, especially in populated areas,” said Lola Islamova.
There is also no coordination of the work of the traffic police and khokimiyat, which creates certain problems, for example, when you need to complain about a broken traffic light.
“When you address the traffic police, they refuse to do anything saying khokimiyat is responsible for this,” she said.
Measures Taken by Authorities and Activists to Improve the Situation on the Roads
Over the past 10 years, the Central Asian countries have done a lot to reduce the number of road accidents. However, more needs to be done, according to the experts.
According to Lola Islamova, in Uzbekistan, the Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate is being reformed, new laws are being adopted, and the authority of inspectors is increasing; the citizens of the country perceive this positively.
She told about the civic activity in Fergana, where the head of the local Ministry of Internal Affairs agreed to install video recorders in city taxis. For recording violation, the person who registered it received 10% of the amount of the fine. The number of traffic violations has decreased, and the city budget received funds. However, some citizens thought receiving such money was unethical.
Nevertheless, the practice of video recording of violation brings positive results, according to Islamova.
“Last year, during the fight against traffic violations, the State Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate received more than 89,000 videos, based on which, 36 billion soms (approximately $3.6 million) were collected. The senders of the videos received about one billion soms (about $100 thousand) – this is such an impressive amount,” she said.
Meanwhile, civil advocacy for improving the traffic infrastructure in Tashkent is not as impactful, said Lola Islamova. For example, the residents of the capital of Uzbekistan were passive in collecting signatures to install traffic lights at dangerous road areas.
A few years ago, the Safe City program was introduced In Tajikistan. The authorities installed many video cameras on the roads within its framework. In addition, two years ago, the government passed a decree banning the import of used cars into the country. These measures have improved the situation on the roads, according to the Tajik expert Navruz Odinaev.
“Statistics show that these cameras of the Safe City project make a significant impact and reduce the number of traffic violations. Everyone knows that every violation is recorded, and there are heavy fines. At first, many people had to sell their cars because they were unable to pay these fines,” he said.
Odinaev said that in Tajikistan, some information about violations comes from social media, primarily from Facebook. If citizens record violations on video, the law enforcement agencies react and punish the violators.
In Kyrgyzstan, civil society is more active. The members of the “Road Safety” NGO headed by Chinara Kasmambetova work together with government agencies to improve infrastructure and participate in the reform commission of law enforcement agencies. This approach gradually improves the situation. Now, a new traffic patrol service is operating in Bishkek, and the representatives of the “Road Safety” NGO were part of the commission that selected candidates for this service.
“This was huge progress. Now, this patrol service works differently and there are already good results. They have a different approach, a different process of selecting candidates, and different staff,” she said.
Chinara Kasmambetova also positively assessed the Safe City project, which is operating in Bishkek for the third year already.
The project implementation caused discontent among drivers – people accumulated heavy fines, so half a year ago, the government reduced the fines for some types of violations not leading to serious accidents.
“Nevertheless, the “Safe City” project shows that since its launch, all our drivers started noticing the road markings, stopping on the stop line, and letting pedestrians pass, which they did not do before,” said Chinara Kasmambetova.
In Kazakhstan, the situation on the roads improved significantly as city authorities and civil society activists began paying more attention to creating good infrastructure.
“10 years ago, no one stopped at the stop line. Everyone drove out to the middle of the intersection; after the installation of the cameras, the drivers no longer violate the stop signs at all intersections,” said Dias Maratuly.
Dias Maratuly urged to follow the example of foreign countries, for example, Sweden and Norway, which were able to reduce the number of fatal road accidents significantly.
Recommendations
To improve the situation on the roads in Central Asian countries, the experts suggest to:
- Improve driving etiquette and teach traffic regulations early on;
- Strengthen propaganda of road accident prevention in the media (TV, radio, Internet, and social media);
- Significantly reduce the urban speed limit – up to 30 km/h near schools and kindergartens;
- Improve convenience of public transport and urban infrastructure for alternative modes of transport (walking, bicycles, scooters, hoverboards, unicycles, etc.);
- When reconstructing streets, increase the visibility of pedestrians crossing the road; set up safety islands;
- Form analytical units within traffic police to collect and analyse data on the main causes of violations on the roads;
- Create a governing body that will control and coordinate road transportation in each country;
- Mount cameras that record the speed of vehicles not only in large cities but also in all populated areas;
- Increase fines for pedestrians and drivers for traffic violations;
- Install technical equipment in cars limiting the speed to 120 km/h;
- Increase punishment for road traffic accidents with serious consequences and treat such cases as wilful crimes.